Still some cloud around keeping it a little cooler we enjoyed a more leisurely stroll today, wandering west around the headland passing Lido delle Sirene and Grotti de Bergeggi….
Getting a lovely view across Bergeggi a small hillside village with a lovely mostly course sandy beach….
A much smaller and less touristy place than either Spotorno or Noli of yesterday but all the more welcome with quieter beaches and for a change mostly public beaches with seemingly no dog ban! Spiaggia de Luna and Spiaggia di Bergeggi…
Such a welcome treat to be able to sit on the beach and let Tilly play whilst I relaxed – just as a sunday should be.
Thoughts of the day:
We decided to stay put as the roads at the weekends appear to be particularly chaotic with the huge numbers of groups of bikers and cyclists enjoying the coastal road (totally get it as this road is pretty spectacular) and we are quite content to have a lazier day.
I have been somewhat distracted today, as my son was running in the London Marathon and I wanted to keep an eye on his progress – very proud of his achievement of completing the challenge and raising money for Make a Wish an amazing charity.
An overcast day today for a change and actually a welcome one as it meant that we could do the longish walk I had planned during the middle of the day, instead of worrying about the heat – it was still warm but ideal.
The village and roads are much busier today but there is promenade all the way into the old village along the sea front with Bergeggi Island looking stunning across the aqua marine sea – the Ligurian Sea…
The long beach running down the resort is mostly sandy with areas of fine shingle, as per, some of it sectioned off into private beaches but much mostly it is accessible beach – Spiaggias – di Spotorno, Pluto, Molo Sirio, Aurora and Libera Serra…
A quick dip into the old town and it’s beautifully decorated interior…
Followed by a stunning walk over to the next village – Noli. The walk between the two villages is probalby only about half a mile and though roadside is quite safe with stunning views up to Castello di Monte Ursino and out to sea….
We continued our walk along the promenade noting that the beaches are slightly more shingly here – Bagni Hilton (private), Spiaggia dei Pescatori – lined with small fishing boats, Bagni Ondino Noli (private). Spiaggia de Noli and at the far end Spiaggia Caponoli…
Noli is an unspoilt medieval fishing village and well worth a visit though we opted out of the long climb up to the castle, opting instead for a mooch around the streets….
What a find – we enjoyed a well earned drink and relax on the beach before walking back to the van…
An absolute corker of a day and a really unbelievable drive as we start the day with a brief walk down to the main beach at San Bartolomeo…
We then continue our journey along the SS1 coastal route heading north stopping for a shortish walk in Andora the next village along – beautiful sands with many private sections of beach and some public areas….
Continuing along the way we are afforded specatular views down onto Laigueglia and it’s sandy foreshore, though we are unable to get down any closer and safely leave the van…
Likewise in the beautiful resort of Alassio there was no way of getting the van down to the seafront due to height restrictors but we did manage a quick pull in…
Our next stop was Ceriale (Albenga was too busy and chaotic!) where we were a little bit cheeky, in so far as we pulled into an out of town supermarket, did some much needed shopping and then left the van for an hour or so to wander down to the coast. We took a quick look at a campsite that we were contemplating for a few days – no chance as the only access was via a railway bridge with a height restriction of 2.3m – a fairly typical issue along this stretch of coast as the SS1 coastal road and the railway vying for pole position next to the sea. Also disappointingly the railway runs right next to the beach and so access and views are restricted for much of this section (glad we didn’t opt to stay here). When we did get into Ceriale and to the beach the views were non existent from their nice new (still under construction) promenade by private bars and changing sheds etc….
What a shame – bearing in mind this would seem to be a developing area with several apartment / hotel complexes under construction – I think they might have missed a trick – still we did manage to get a look at a couple of the beaches – Spiaggia di Pippo and Spiaggia di Ceriale…
The road from here to Spotorno turns out to be the most scenic section I have ever had the pleasure of driving, as it meanders its way hugging the rugged white cliffs just above the sea, unfortunately stopping places were few and far between so the sheer beauty will remain as a private memory, though I did take the odd pic whilst waiting at traffic lights….
And a cheeky snap of Spiaggia di Casteletto, where visitors were parked on a little widened area at the roadside, with a fair few steps down to the beach…
We soon arrived down into the resort of Spotorno where we found space (just) in a very basic Aire at the northern end of the beach….
We soon parked up, the marked spaces are just wide enough to leave about a metre between vans – not ideal but the location less than 50 metres from the fabulous long sandy beach of Spiaggia nel Blu – well stunning….
Rather than walk along the sea front which we shall do tomorrow, we opted to follow the footpath at the side of the SS1 as it continues it’s journey along the coast to get some aerial views of the stunning sea – makes all the difference in the world in bright sunshine and sandy base and also a closer look at Bergeggi Island….
A little further on were two pretty and tricky to get to coves – Lido del Serene and Spiaggia de Punto Prodani…
Just around the bend and we get views down onto the next resort along – Bergeggi and glimpses of it’s beach….
Wow what a day – we can easily cope with a crowded Aire after a day like today…
And our evening stroll was pretty magical too – we do love an Island…
Thoughts of the day:
This is more like the coastline that I was expecting, I can’t help having felt a bit disappointed with the coastline since joining the Riviera in France apart from the odd little pocket here and there.
There must be 50 or so vans parked up here – is it surprising that the only other non Italian plate is an Austrian – so far on this journey there have been a good smattering of French and German plates….
A beautiful sunny day and indecision played a big part in us deciding to stay another day – that and the local police doing a round of the vans parked in the aire – I wasn’t sure what he was checking for but seemed to be checking each van’s registration, so I went over to ask and he said that we needed to pay for our stay on the App. Now to be honest when we arrived yesterday and I saw that the barrier was broken and the pay machine was all wrapped in tape, I didn’t even look on the app (EasyPark) and just though oh great a freebee! Needless to say, I promptly got on the app and purchased 24 hours parking – at least one van wasn’t so lucky and got a parking fine – so I learned a lesson here but got away with last night!
On our morning walk down to the beach, I took a photo to match the one taken yesterday evening after the sun had gone down…
We spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon relaxing and doing a bit of catch up on these blogs, before setting out for Diano Marina in the afternoon. There is a little breeze aroung this afternoon which made it very pleasant and we were able to walk most of the way to Diano by promenade alongside the beach….
Over the river into Diano and down onto the first couple of beaches, which were pebbly like those of San Bartolomeo – Bagni Majestic and Bagni Paradiso – both linked to hotels of the same names….
But then as we arrived in Diano having walked along the Marina – sand glorious sand the main Spiaggia de Diano Marina is actually fine powdery sand….
There followed a section of nearly empty, finely manicured private beaches – what a waste – Bagni Netuno and Bagni Bianca and quite a few more, all bearing the name of the relevant bar but actually the same beach just cut up into small sections….
Quite a nice touch adding these pontoons for additional seating or sunbathing as the beach is quite narrow here. At the far end is the old town of Diano Marina and the mostly public sandy beach of Bagni Elena….
At this point we stopped for a drink and a break before heading back through the village of Diano, which is definately a bit more upmarket than it’s neighbour San Bartolomeo with a good mix of boutique shops – we even bought some artificial flowers for the van!
Thoughts of the day:
Finding somewhere to park up is proving somewhat of a challenge, with many campsites coming in at around 50 euros a night, so I was grateful to have found this Aire at San Bartolomeo al Mare, not the prettiest but with a nice view and flat secure gravelled ground….
Our first proper cloudy day in a while, so indeed quite a pleasant drive along the SS1 coast road with pretty amazing sea views all the while, however very little opportunity to pull over and properly enjoy the views.
We did manage a quick stop over on the way into Imperia by the beach – Spiaggia Borgo Prino….
We continued along the coast road to an Aire about 500m from the sea front in San Bartolmeo al Mare and after parking up took a nice leisurely stroll along the sea front, firstly heading west towards the hill top village of Cervo….
Wandering along Spiaggia Cervo (an almost sandy beach!) to Bagni Tosca a sort of enclosed swimming lagoon….
And finally the again nearly sandy Bagni l’Angolo….
At this point we about turned and headed back across the river to San Bartolomeo and wandered along the promenade and its gravelly beaches – Spiaggia San Bartolomeo….
Bagni Lido Della Rovere and Spiaggia Bassamarea….
Spiaggia Diano Marina with the village itself in the distance….
Time to head back and perhaps we shall take a walk into Diana Marina tomorrow if we decide to stay another day.
Thoughts of the day:
This aire would appear to be free at the moment as the barrier is broken and the payment machine all taped up – result!
Backed onto the river for the pretty views of Cervo does mean however that we are subjected to the cacophony of the frogs / toads all night – boy are they noisy – however as with any continuous noise you are usually able to blank it out after a while – here’s hoping!
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